A few years ago, when Nate lived in Illinois and I lived in Indiana, one of us would travel to see the other one every single weekend. At the end of one weekend he came back to Indiana with me to work on the house he was getting ready to sell.
The evening was chilly and calm, the rain was creating the most soothing sounds on the windshield and the sun was setting early as it does still in early spring. I fell asleep in the passenger seat near the end of our trip and as we were nearing the lake Nate woke me up and said, "I have a song for you."
It had been a long, difficult summer/fall/winter for us and there I was ... coming home from a trip taken specifically to spend time with this man that I adored ... resting in the comforts of a beautiful song that was being played just for me ... still drifting in and out of my dreams. I watched the silhouettes of trees against the dusk while listening to the rhythm of the rain in the background and felt a tranquility that had been eluding me for months. It was just me and Nate and the rest of the world. I knew, then and there, that this was important. I knew I would cherish this memory for a long time to come.
Six months later I walked down the aisle to a live version of this song, yet when I hear it today I am not reminded of my wedding. I am instead reminded of a cold, rainy evening that could have been like any other. But wasn't.
I still consider those moments as one of the best four minutes of my life.
Nate has a way with these things.

It's difficult for me to collect my thoughts when I'm run down and overwhelmed.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this?
Sleep around here has been hard to come by (teething, ear infections, insomnia ... you name it) and that always throws things out of whack.
This afternoon I asked Nate, "How do others Moms feel about this sort of thing? How do they not get frustrated or depressed by the consistent demands during a week like this?"
He assured me that a lot of Moms do get frustrated and feel defeated.
I guess I just assume they don't because I don't hear them complaining about it much and the ones they do complain, seem to complain about everything so I sort of write that off.

I will tell you, though ... pulling away from social networks (ie - Facebook and the like) and barely texting all week has helped. I need my world to be smaller. I need less distraction and more focus on my family. I'm the only Mommy these girls have and the only lady Nate has and I need to be present in the moment. Their moments. Our moments.
When my world becomes too big I have a difficult time giving this little family my best. In counseling yesterday we discussed that 'ignorance is bliss' and that allowing my thoughts, emotions, etc. to be bombarded by outside influences only clouds what is right in front of me.

So, I'm making my world a little smaller, setting my sights on the immediate and weeding out the distractions.

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This is what I walked in on near the end of nap time the other day ...
(Notice how they are both wearing red? One solid, one polka dot. I oftentimes try to coordinate their outfits. )